Medieval Gardens

As a special bonus, Dame Aoife shares links that are most appropriate for
spring. Her topic is medieval gardens, with an emphasis on herb and knot
gardens.
Greetings all!

In a bonus Links List, I'm presenting a list on Medieval Gardening
practices, esp. Knot and Herb gardens. There are especially a few pages to
take note of for the gardener/illuminator out there. Other garden
enthusiasts will find not only resources and a bibliography, but also a
practical how-to page for knot gardens, with designs.

Yours, in hopes that Spring will soon be upon us here in the beleaguered
Northern US:

Museum of Garden History (In the Lambeth Bishop's Palace, London) http://www.cix.co.uk/~museumgh/plants.htm#plants
An Alphabetical list of historic plants and when they first were used in
England. Overall the site itself is excellent and should not be missed!

National Geographic News: Medieval Garden Intrigues British Archaeologists
Hillary Mayell for National Geographic News February 10, 2003 http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/02/0210_030210_medievalgard...
(Site Excerpt) The discovery by historical researcher Peter King of a
reference in records dating to 1413 to "a garden with a ditch of water
around it," led archaeologists to conduct a geophysical survey of the area.
Employing techniques such as magnetometry, ground penetrating radar, and
soil resistivity surveying to look below the site's surface, the
archaeologists traced the buried outlines of the paths and rectangular plots
of the garden. The findings suggest the mount and garden were built sometime
between 1300 and 1349.

Medieval and Renaissance Gardens http://www.lehigh.edu/~jahb/herbs/medievalgardens.htm
Notes from a class presented at East Kingdom University and other events in
the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism), by Jadwiga Zajaczkowa (Jennifer
Heise)
(Site Excerpt)Raised Beds & Sunken Beds"For instance beds could be raised
and edged with boards or woven panels of willow to improve drainage, just as
Columella recommended" (Hobhouse). Parkinson suggests edging your beds with
either live plants or dead stuff such as tiles, lead, sheep shank bones, or
boards. Sunken beds appear to be used primarily in Islamic gardens, where
the idea would be to facilitate irrigation and keep the earth from drying
out. Good examples appear in the Alhambra in Spain. (Islamic gardens tended
to strongly follow the Roman pattern of square layouts and canals or streams
running through the garden.)

Stefan's Florilegium: Plants, Herbs, and Spices http://www.florilegium.org/files/PLANTS/idxplants.html
(Site Excerpt of one message from Herbs-Sm-Grdn-art)
Medieval Herbs for the Very Small Garden
by Jadwiga Zajaczkowa
So, you've found yourself with a small scrap of garden, or a patio or sunny
window to put flowerboxes in, and think, "Herbs?" You trot off to the
library and start pulling out books, and are immediately discouraged by all
the
lovely garden plans that start with a 10 foot by 10 foot plot, or even
bigger. The
truth is, ancient, medieval and modern people have been tucking herbs into
tiny gardens from time immemorial, and so can you.
Planning the Garden I would, honestly, start with only a very small plot (2'
x 4' or 3' x 3') your first year, even if you do have space. This will keep
you from buying everything in the garden center marked 'herb' and sticking
it all in (unlike me, these days) and will give you time to study and
appreciate your plants. Most herbs
adore full sun and not-so-good soil that dries out relatively quickly, but
they are amazingly tolerant of abuse and mistakes in planting. They will
tolerate
being grown in relatively shady spots but they should get 4-6 hours of
direct or indirect sun a day.

Penn State College of Agricultural Science March 31, 1999 NEWS:
LOOKING FOR A CLASSIC HOME GARDEN DESIGN? GET MEDIEVAL http://www.aginfo.psu.edu/News/march99/medieval.html
(Site Excerpt) UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Philosopher Thomas Hobbes wrote that
medieval life
was "nasty, brutish and short," but a landscape design expert in Penn
State's College of Agricultural Sciences points out that gardens created
between 500 and 1500 A.D. offered a respite for the soul, as well as a
source for food, household items and medicine. "In medieval times, the
garden functioned as a place to view beauty, but it also functioned as the
drugstore, supermarket and hardware store," says Martin McGann, assistant
professor of landscape contracting. McGann will design and help install a
full 12-foot by 30-foot medieval garden that will be on display April 10 and
11 in the White Building on the University Park campus as part of "Scenes
and Seasons: The Medieval Landscape," a conference and fair to be held April
9-11 at various locations around University Park.
See also: Medieval Gardens in the works for University Park: http://www.psu.edu/ur/archives/intercom_1999/Dec2/garden.html

Botanists probe medieval medicine13th-century folklore inspires 21st-century
research scheme. 22 July 2002 JOHN WHITFIELD http://www.nature.com/nsu/020715/020715-15.html
(Site Excerpt) Researchers in Wales are following the lead of medieval
medics in the hope
of finding new drugs. A project will begin later this year at the country's
National Botanic Garden to explore the work of a medical dynasty, the
Physicians of Myddfai."[The Myddfai's work] may make a significant
contribution to modern medicine," says Terry Turner, a pharmacist at the
University of Wales in Cardiff who is involved in the project. "These old
boys knew what they were doing - they were experimental and knowledgeable
people."Myddfai is a village in South Wales. Here, in the early thirteenth
century, a physician named Rhiwallon founded a line of doctors that spread
across Wales and persisted for hundreds of years - some Welshmen still claim
descent from the physicians.

Medieval New York: The Bonnefont Cloister
Herb Garden by Sarah McGowan http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/medny/herbgdn1.html
(Site Excerpt) This cloister dates from the late thirteenth or early
fourteenth century,
containing capitals and some columns from the Cistercian abbey at
Bonnefont-en-Comminges and other local religious foundations in the south of
France. The simplicity of these capitals reflects the strict asceticism
embodied by the Cistercian monastic order, shunning any decoration which
might distract monks from the contemplation of God.
The naturalistic floral patterns decorating the double capitals in this
cloister are a reaction in form to the robust, grotesque figures of
Romanesque cloister carvings. The individual raised planting beds, wattle
fences, and central wellhead of the garden are all characteristics typically
found in medieval monastic gardens.

The Illuminator's Garden: Floral Substitutes for Gold
By Diedre Larkin (Horticulturist at the Cloisters Museum, branch of the
Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC) http://www.manuscriptarts.net/Ave_VIN2_illuminators%20garden.htm
(Site Excerpt) A great many plants were used as sources for coloring matter
in the Middle
Ages, whether to furnish dyes or pigments. Medieval plants such as madder,
weld, woad, lady's bed straw. Dyer's broom, iris, calendula, celandine and
saffron are being grown today in Manhattan and are part of the gardens of
the Cloisters Museum. The Bonefort Herb Garden at the Cloisters provides a
rare opportunity to see more than 250 species of plants known and used in
medieval Europe. Two of these plant beds are devoted exclusively to dye
plants and plants used in artist materials. Depending on the garden of the
medieval illuminator, a wide selection of coloring sources was available,
especially when yellow was sought. Yellow is the most common color yielded
from plants. According to Daniel Thompson, "Incomparably the most important
yellow in medieval painting is the metal gold. Yellow pigments, however,
played a significant part in the pageant of medieval technique. One of the
most important services required of [the illuminator] was to imitate the
appearance of gold."

Spanish Garden Traditions: Designs for a Mediterranean Climate
by Katherine Greenberg http://www.gardens.com/story/guest6.htm
(Site Excerpt) After the decline of the Roman Empire, Islamic Spain became
the center of European civilization. Conquering the peninsula in 711, the
Moors brought significant advances in agriculture and horticulture as well
as in the arts and sciences. They built elaborate mosques and palaces with
courtyards and terraces that incorporated the essential elements of shade,
water, and plants. Elaborate irrigation systems were developed to supply
water to fields and gardens. The forecourt of the magnificent Mosque of
Cordoba, planted with rows or orange trees that correspond to irrigation
channels, is considered to be the oldest continuously maintained garden in
the world. It represents an early concept of garden that was productive as
well as decorative.

Bede's World, The Herb Garden http://www.bedesworld.co.uk/bedesworld-herbgarden.php
(Site Excerpt) The first part of the garden as you enter it draws on the
structure of a typical medieval physick garden, with trellis work and a
central arch marking the entrance, leading to four oblong beds, two on
either side of a central aisle. The first two of the four beds contain herbs
from the Anglo-Saxon age; behind them lie a bed of Culinary Herbs and one of
Medicinal Herbs.The second part of the garden is based on the 9th century
plan for the monastery at St Gall (in modern day Switzerland). This unique
document preserves the layout drawn for the monastery at St Gall, showing
ecclesiastical and domestic buildings.

History of Knot Gardens http://www.harborside.com/~rayj/knot.htm
(Site Excerpt) Most Renaissance gardens were composed of square
compartments. A small garden might consist of one compartment, while large
gardens usually contained at least six or eight compartments. The individual
compartments were usually separated from each other by the garden's main
paths. During the early sixteenth century, it was normal for each
compartment to be enclosed by a waist-high hedge or lattice fence. This
practice was typical of Medieval gardens, but it was also common in the
gardens of Imperial Rome. By the end of the century, each compartment was
still being treated as an individual garden, but was becoming unfashionable
to enclose them, especially in Italy. Throughout the sixteenth century, it
was normal for each compartment for each compartment to be given its own
pattern. Compartments which were on opposite sides of a main path were
sometimes given matching designs, but it was rare for all of the
compartments in a garden to have identical patterns.

Designing and planting a Knot Garden or Border http://www.knot-herbs.co.uk/knot1/page4.html
While this site is copy-protected (unable to quote it here), it is fairly
comprehensive with several examples and possible design layouts. Strictly a
hands-on resource, not a referenced one.

Town gardens in the Middle Ages--gardenvisit.com http://www.gardenvisit.com/got/6/8.htm
(Site Excerpt) In medieval towns it was not only the great nobles who set
store by beautiful gardens The burghers began more and more to care about
gardens. Every now and again there is heard some very early rumour bearing
on this subject, as for example about the praise given to gardens in the
city of Paris by the Emperor Julian when he was on his journey to the North.
The particular commendation is due to the fact that Parisians used to keep
vines and figs round their houses, and protected them through the winter
with coverings of straw. But this is an exception, for it is not till quite
late that we hear of any horticulture in the Northern towns.